Green Shoots

"Supervolcanos take no prisoners. When this one erupts, it will obliterate the rickety superstructures of global governance, finance, and economic....giving the green shoots of decentralized freedom a chance to poke here and there through the ash. It’s about time."

Looking at some of the price action, we have broken out of some key levels and areas, so in this respect, 'end of days' means an end to the uptrend which has seen the EUR rate pushing back through 1.1500, while the commodity currencies also look to have set a longer term low in place. What is doesn't mean - necessarily - is that the USD is going to implode, though the past week has seemed that way!

It’s no secret the plumbers at the Fed are feverishly devising a way to unwind their $4.5 trillion balance sheet with officials claiming this will nary elicit an inkling of a disturbance in the markets they’ve coddled all these years. But one must wonder, at the timing, at the ostensive optics, if nothing else...Unless, that is, the motivations of shrinkage are less than magnanimous and dare one say, immoral.

Despite all the excitement and media hype that wage growth is finally upon us and the green shoots of escape velocity recovery are here, thanks to Obama and Yellen, the facts are different. Real average weekly earnings rose just 0.2% year-over-year in December - the weakest growth since June 2014(and November's gains were revised lower).

"If we’re in one of those periods now, if 2016 is like 1932 or 1979 - then you not only have to change your portfolio, you have to change your lifestyle. That’s one of the things we’ve been telling clients. If this is a major shift to populism, nationalism, greater state involvement, and less globalism, then you really have to rethink almost everything in your life."